note: listeners in the US can purchase a CD from Squidco (bit.ly/2ZS3E7B)

Habitable Records is a new label started in March 2021 by 9 members of the Composers and Improvisers Community Project, an international initiative led by Argentinian guitarist Javier Subatin.

CICP was created to maintain momentum for musicians during the Covid era through solo presentations and collaborations in audio and video form.

As an extension of the concept, Habitable features a host of idiosyncratic voices from the space beyond genre, unified by expansive curiosity about the world of sound and the societal good that can come from it. Habitable operates with aesthetic and ethical considerations in equal measure.

Our hope is to present an ever-growing body of work advancing the acceptance and reach of the music we love. The founding members are:

Federico Calcagno is a clarinet/bass clarinet player and composer from Milan, Italy, currently based in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Called “the new bishop of the best Italian and European Jazz” (All About Jazz IT), he won several prestigious prizes including Premio Internazionale Giorgio Gaslini 2020 and Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021. (www.federicocalcagno.com)

Max Diller is a trumpeter and composer from Germany, currently based in the city of Dresden. With a warm and unique sound, he works as both a sideman and bandleader in the field of improvised and experimental music, performing throughout Germany and Europe. (www.max-diller.com)

Mané Fernandes is a creative guitarist and composer that plays in the spaces of “jazz,” improvised music and beat-based music. Career highlights are his very first release “BounceLab” (Porta-Jazz 2014); being the guest soloist with “Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos” in 2016; and being part of two of Portugal’s most impactful bands and releases of 2017: João Barradas’ “Home” and Pedro Melo Alves’ “Omniae Ensemble''. (linktr.ee/manefmusic)

Samuel Gapp, winner of the Prémio de Composição Bernardo Sassetti 2019 and the Prémio Jovens Músicos 2019, is a German pianist, composer and interdisciplinary artist, based in Lisbon, Portugal. He has worked with musicians like Peter Evans, Evan Parker, Christian Lillinger and Peter Brötzmann, among others. (www.samuelgapp.com)

Killick Hinds of Athens, Georgia, US plays unusual stringed instruments in a style he calls Appalachian Trance Metal, with an emphasis on intuitive intonation, unquantifiable rhythms and shamanistic ROYGBIV. He appears on over 300 albums and has worked with countless amazing souls. (www.killick.me)

Camila Nebbia is a sax player, composer, improviser and multidisciplinary artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Stockholm, Sweden. Her artistic practice and work reflect the constant creation of new sounds and visual landscapes, exploring the relationship between different forms of composition, free improvisation and multimedia. She is co-creator and curator of the collective interdisciplinary group and improvised series “La Jaula se ha vuelto pájaro y se ha volado” and the collective organization EWTA (Empowering Womxn Through the Arts). As a band leader Camila has released “A veces la luz de lo que existe resplandece solamente a la distancia” (Kuai 2017); “De este lado” (Club del Disco 2019); Aura (ears&eyes Records 2020) and “Corre el río de la memoria” (Ramble Records 2021). (www.camilanebbia.com)

Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021 winner and Maastricht Jazz Awards finalist Francesca Remigi is a polyhedric drummer and visionary composer, known for her international collaborations with Steve Lehman, Joachim Florent, Kris Davis and John Patitucci, with appearances at EFG London Jazz Festival 2020 and Panama Jazz Festival 2021. (remigifrancesca.com)

Based in Oulu, Finland, Heikki Ruokangas is an innovative guitarist, composer and improviser. By combining melody and noise, his music ranges from delicate and melodic atmospheres to avant-garde cacophony. He's performed throughout Europe and, at the age of 33, has already released over 20 collaborative and solo recordings. (heikkiruokangas.com/en)

Argentinian-born Javier Subatin is gradually imprinting on the Portuguese jazz scene (and way beyond) with music that explores the contrast between familiar and strange. The rhythmic and harmonic elements of jazz emerge in the place the genre was destined for, and the melodic work is what we expect from the intersection of the post-bop tradition with the music of its author’s geographical origins. (Rui Eduardo Paes / jazz.pt) (www.javiersubatin.com)